Golf Roundup : Zoeller Goes to Front Despite Bad Back

Fuzzy Zoeller, nursing a bad back, reeled off a string of four birdies that lifted him into a two-shot lead Saturday in the third round of the $450,000 Sea Pines Heritage golf tournament at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

“I felt like Tom Watson in his prime,” Zoeller said of the birdie-burst that ran from the 11th through 14th holes on the Harbour Town Golf Links. Zoeller shot a two-under-par 69 that included seven birdies and completed 54 holes with a 205 total.

Chip Beck, Jay Haas and Australian Greg Norman, who Zoeller beat in a playoff for the 1984 U.S. Open title, were at 207. Haas had a no-bogey 66; Beck shot a 70, and Norman had a 69 despite a double-bogey. Roger Maltbie was at 208 after a 69.

Defending champion Bernhard Langer of West Germany one-putted 13 times and had nine birdies in a round of 64 that propelled him into a tie for sixth at 210.

At Cannes, France, Severiano Ballesteros produced another stunning finish Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the $150,000 Cannes Open.

Ballesteros birdied the last three holes for a 68 and a 54-hole total of 207, nine under par, to move ahead of second-round leader John Bland of South Africa, who shot a 70.